THOMASVILLE, GA â€" Florida Southern started strong, finished strong and played very well all throughout the game against Thomas University, and it took a strong performance from Alex Hoover to get the Moccasins all three of their goals. With Hoover scoring one, assisting one and setting up the first one with a pseudo-assist, Florida Southern remained undefeated with a 3-0 win Friday afternoon over Thomas.
The Moccasins (2-0-1) out-shot the Night Hawks 15-2 in the first half and 29-2 in the game. They could have scored more if not for the play of Thomas goalkeepers Heather Collins and Deanna Rivet, who combined for 13 saves while facing a steady stream of crosses and downfield serves from Florida Southern’s outside midfielders and defenders.
Florida Southern had seven shots in the first 15 minutes alone, with three of them saved and two of them blocked inside the box. They had another opportunity in the 19th minute when a cross by Alyssa Abrahamsen out of the right corner set up Adi Alvarado for a header, but Collins made a tough save to keep the Mocs off the board.
Eventually, Thomas wore down, and Florida Southern broke through for two goals in the final 10 minutes of the first half. The first came from Kara Moore in the 36th minute, the third shot in a rapid-fire sequence that started when Hoover hit the underside of the crossbar. Collins was able to knock the ball away after it bounced off the goal line, and Princess Haley got off another shot after a scramble in front of the goal. That too was saved, and the Night Hawks almost cleared it, but it didn’t go far enough to escape Moore, who ripped a shot into the net from 20 yards out.
Three minutes later it was Hoover again who helped the Mocs score when Kerri-Ann Brown re-directed her corner kick with a header inside the near post. That goal, Brown’s first of 2010, gave Florida Southern a 2-0 lead at halftime.
It didn’t take nearly as long for Florida Southern to score in the second half, and this time Hoover did it herself. Taking a short pass at the 18-yard line from Alvarado, the junior stepped around a Thomas defender and connected for her first goal of the season.
The Moccasins had 13 more shots after Hoover’s 50th-minute goal but weren’t able to score again. Hoover had one of those shots saved in the 62nd minute, and Hanna Jansson had a pair of good looks in the 73rd and 74th. Emily Griffith also hit the crossbar in the 87th minute. Altogether, 10 different Moccasins had at least one shot in the game.
Florida Southern’s first shutout of the year came with a variety of looks on the back line, but all of them were effective. Several Thomas attacks died in the corner where outside backs Lexie Bottomley, Sydney O'Hair and Kristen Vollmer never allowed the Mocs to get pinned too deep.
The closest thing to a Thomas goal came in the 40th minute after a free kick deep in Florida Southern territory. Alexandra Sveinsdottir ended up with the ball in the center of the penalty box with no one but Martina Tangen Billing between her and the net, but Tangen Billing was able to stop the shot with a diving save to her left.
Florida Southern will play its second game on the current road trip Sunday afternoon when it travels to Pensacola to take on 2nd-ranked West Florida at 12:30 central time.
